Afterwards
by IHaveAMessedUpSenseOfHumor
Summary: Janus is the afterlife of the deluded and the freshly repented. Three men with varying social standings and morals find themselves on equal grounds here. Will there be forever or redemption? Pain or ascension? AU obviously. Rated M because of a double serving of eye scream. Oh and rape. There's rape. Bet you were wondering what AgonyShipping was. Doesn't exist.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

**Author Note: **Recently I learnt that people on tumblr in the 5D's fandom were being harassed by 'canon'-nazis, people that have hissy-fits for shipping Yaoi/Yuri pairings or not shipping Faith/Scoop/RavenKnight/RevengeShipping. They deem those ships canon and anything not canon is to be punished. In retaliation here you go canon-nazis have some crack pairings. I call this AgonyShipping, oh and bonus to whoever can guess what the theme naming of the chapters is. Also the majority of the story will be italics because fuck bitches. I'm sorry that was uncalled for.

Afterwards

Cattleya

_A gray cab. The falling rain trickles down far too fast. Ah, where am I going? The past and present are blurred as is my future. When am I going? The last thing I remember is a fork penetrating my right eye. The knife sliced of my left ear. The hospital? The police station? Ah I suppose either is no problem at all. A hospital to make me well. A police station to trap and release me as I deserve._

"_Where am I going?" I inquire._

_The cabbie smiles as I can feel it's too chilling._

"_Afterwards." She replies._

"_Afterwards? Hm, fine don't tell me, I'll figure out on my own."_

"_After the words."_

"_Delightful."_

_As per usual insanity is attracted to me. Insanity is easily manipulated. Concentrated. Ah Aki better pick me up. _

_I glance out the window and outside is entirely gray._

"_Ma'am where am I going, give me a straight answer this time."_

"_After the words. After the pain. After all the agony. After the silverware struck you straight through."_

"_Vague once more. Tell me."_

"_After life."_

_A gray cab. The endless empty skies and the tall buildings filled with mutilated and struggling people. The falling rain taunts me as well. My foolishness is easily understood. The uncertainly and denial of death is only human isn't it? Aren't even I allowed to be human?_

"_And such what does the afterlife hold for me?"_

"_Forever or redemption. Pain or ascension. Cattleya or another heart that simply is lost."_

"_Oh yes more vagueness, yes please."_

"_Silence! Driving is difficult."_

_A cab. Strange choice. I thought a train was more appropriate after all. A train or a ship. Ah but cabs hold a certain poetical nature as well. Paying for my death. Ah death is something I should have avoided. Aki needs me after all. Perhaps she'll join me. Sweet, sweet, pain and pleasure in the afterlife as well. I bet she'd even kill herself to be with me. She promised me eternity and she always keeps her promises._

"_Is this heaven or hell?"_

"_Neither."_

"_Ah then purgatory?"_

"_No."_

"_Limbo?"_

"_No."_

"_Sheol?"_

"_No?"_

"_Nirvana?"_

"_No, must you continue?"_

"_I'll stop if you tell me."_

"_It's the place where people choose. It's Janus."_

_I'm afraid I've never heard of Janus before. Beyond the Roman God of choices there is nothing called Janus except for a rare breed of two faced cats._

"_Ah yes Janus."_

_I sit in silence. The cab bounces up and down and my breath hitches. I wonder if she'll die for me before or after carrying on my word, my legacy. Aki, my black and withering rose in that form come to me. I'm lonely without you. I have to admit when I met you the days went faster and the nights when slower. Heh._

_I shouldn't have died so soon. Ah but you know what they say; only the good die young. That is surely a testimate. Hah! In my death I will be a martyr for the cause. This will surely help. The cab stops abruptly and I slam my face against the seat. _

"_What will you be paying with?" The driver questions._

_I check my pockets. No money at all. Delightful._

"_Whatever you will take." I say resigned._

_Regret. The falling rain mockingly fluttering like roses petals ripped._

"_Your left ear and right eye so the blind and deaf girl you left in the living world can see and hear what you did."_

_I scream and reach up to my eye. Surely enough blood is running now._

"_It will be returned when you choose." She murmurs._

_The cab drives off and I stumble. Suddenly in my hand is a small silver key. Naturally as keys are made for locks I put the key in the silver lock on the tall building in front of me. It opens and all manner of freaks missing pieces of themselves are scattered about. From a spikey haired blonde missing his legs to an older man with metal arms. Ah only an ear and an eye, quite lucky. I walk past careful not to make eye contact as it's considered an attack. I walk up the stairs and feel the key anxiously. The raised numbers that appear on it says four. I walk up the stairs to the top floor. Rather strange how every floor rather than door is locked. I open floor four. In there is a fairly large and fairly decent apartment. The living room of some description is first. I walk through it to the kitchen and through there into a bedroom. The bedroom looks like some kind of mechanic's workshop, clearly not mine. The room next to it looks like a laboratory, also clearly not mine. The room beside that one is the very image of my dear Aki's bedroom. Is this a sign she'll be joining me soon? Excellent. I lie down on the bed. Ah it smells like her even. I lie down on it and close my eyes allowing sleep to take me._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

Virgin Suicides

_I'm choking on the wind. I'm choking on blood. Is it mine or yours!? Aw, I hope it's both mingling. Aw I hope it's both choking me down. I hope my blood already choked you silent. I hope that it choked you to death. Aw, aw, wouldn't it be such a cute sight to see you gurgling on the mingling sweat and blood that we share. The jerk of a car slams me into obnoxious realities. _

_I look around and there's only gray. Aw, aw has this world finally shattered!? Are we dead. Is he dead with me? I wanted to be the one to kill him though, kill him before something horrible happened after all. Kill him before he was taken from me! And if the environment killed him then he didn't choke on our combined blood. Where am I anyway? Where am I? I look down at myself. I'm in a gray cab. The screaming as almost every blood vessel in my body popped. The laughing. Aw, the laughing. I like to laugh. I wanted to laugh with him as I died but he crawled away like a scared mouse. I want to strike him down like he did to me! Curiously as I am curious and curiouser and mad and mad and mad and delightfully endlessly mad! _

"_Where are we going?" I ask stifling giggles._

"_Afterwards." The woman with the sultry voice replies._

"_Your voice sounds like smoke. Would you mind if I strangled you to see the smoke come out!"_

_The woman remains silent. I wonder if I scared her! Do you mind if I kill you, the words always come out so light. I wonder if someone will let me one day. Yuusei. He should have died with me. Aw as I am dead then I'll come back as a ghost and kill him and make him choke on the mixed blood and sweat and laugh with him as he dies and no one can have him but me. _

"_Unlike most of the others you did not question afterwards." The woman starts again with the smokey words appearing in yellow and black letters in front of me._

"_After means death." I giggle._

"_Hmn, clearly you are deluded."_

"_Deluded? Me? No, no, YOU are the deluded one!"_

"_Hmn. This is bound to be interesting."_

_The car bounces. I wanna choke her from behind. Why do they always scream? I just want them to stay the way they are, to pay for their betrayals. Why do they mind if I kill them? It's silly. Death is just another heart stopped. And heaven and hell know that the more hearts stopped the more peace. Death is a part of my very nature. Death is my soul. I'm the angel of death. Ha ha ha!_

"_Do you know which afterwards this is?" The smoke asks._

"_Don't care! Death is the same! The thing I don't get is how I died as I am the angel of death, no the God of death and Gods of death don't die!" I scream in reply._

"_Death takes everyone. You are in Janus, the afterlife of choices."_

"_And I choose life!"_

"_That is not an option. The options are forever or redemption. Pain or ascension? Suicide or letting go?"_

"_Hmn, I choose forever, pain and suicide!"_

"_We'll see."_

_The car stops abruptly and slams my head against the seat. I laugh yet again._

"_This was fun! We should do it again sometime!"_

"_We'll see. Time to pay me!"_

"_Oh I have no money and oh I have no things and oh I have no soul so what payment will you take?"_

"_Your angelic appearance to give to the virgin suicide you allowed to fall into a personal hell."_

_I laugh as pain surrounds me. I feel different somehow. I feel deader. Aw how great! I've always wanted to FEEL death! Sharing death was as close as I could get after all! The gray car speeds off and in my hand is a small silver key. Instantly I am pulled to a tall building. Death has great living accommodations! I jam the key into the lock and the building opens. A building all for me? Wow! I've never owned a building before! Heh. Oh wait do I have to share? I wonder if I can make them choke on their own blood! Dying after death! Such a lovely concept! _

_The door opens. In there are people suffering the effects of death, a man without arms, a man without legs, a woman without eyes, suffering, suffering, they are all suffering! The thin key develops a raised number four. Four, four, four! Four is death! I am four! I walk pat the suffering people with a quick smile. The legless man recoils. I glide up the stairs humming. Humming, humming, four! Four different songs pull at my tongue! I jam the key in the lock and twist it and open it. I walk inside. I smell gasoline. I smell Yuusei. I lift my nose up and go to the smell. A bedroom, his perhaps, aw did Yuusei join me? I run into the room. It's empty, sadly. I sit down on the bed that smells of him and wonder and wonder and wonder! If I choke on my blood what will happen? Will I see him again? I lie down and sleep grasps at me. Goodnight Yuusei, I'll see you soon._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

God Slaying Machine

_Fuck what happened? I better not be in prison. The last thing I remember is trying to push Antinomy out a window. Z-ONE's going to kill me. I look out the window and the sky and ground are both completely gray._

"_Where are we going!" I demand from the driver._

"_Hmn, you are the most amusing of the three. No lengthy thoughts about your own nature, no rambling. This is quite interesting." She mumbles._

"_Answer my damn question!" _

"_Afterwards."_

"_Afterwards? What's that supposed to mean?!"_

"_After words. After pain. After agony. After machinery."_

_Machinery. I'm a clock work man. Maybe she thinks I'm someone else then._

"_You have the wrong person; I'm a clock work man."_

"_Hmn, then a Placido Tenor didn't die last night? Then a Placido Tenor that screams words that even he doesn't even believe didn't die last night? Then a clock work man named Placido Tenor that regretted in his last moments, not too much but enough, wasn't pulled out that window by furiously thrashing hands and smashed against the hard ground?" _

_Oh, she's telling me I am in some kind of afterlife._

"_Of course it isn't me because I am purely clockwork and clockwork has no soul"_

"_Denying humanity? Peculiar. I would have thought a clockwork would be more inclined to be considered human."_

"_Hmph. Tell me this whomever you are how can I be in whatever kind of afterlife this is if clockwork men don't have souls?"_

"_Oh but some do. You have free will don't you?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And you have emotions don't you?"_

"_Some."_

"_Then you are just as human as humans."_

"_You're an idiot. I demand you remove me from the afterlife! Z-ONE will fix me and I need to get back!"_

"_Ku ku ku, your God can't help you now."_

"_And why not you stupid bimbo?"_

"_Because your body was completely destroyed."_

"_So? He can simply find new parts and rebuild it."_

"_But he can not replicate the soul you grew."_

"_What?"_

"_That is my final reply."_

_Well then I guess Z-ONE will prove her wrong soon enough. She's stupid if she thinks clockwork men have souls. I don't have a soul. What is a soul anyway? What is it defined by? What is it created by? How does one grow a soul anyway? How can something that isn't human have a soul? Oh this is just so trite, so useless._

_The car bounces up and down. Great, there are speed bumps in hell. Wait does that mean Antinomy's here if I actually did shove him out of the window. Son of a bitch! Still not rid of him, not even for a little while. _

"_I demand that I be transferred to a different afterlife!" I scream._

"_Are you freaking kidding me!" She screams back._

_Oh that's a huge personality change. Oh I think I'm in trouble. Hmph, that's what she gets for trying to chain me._

"_Take this afterlife! It's the only chance you have! It's Janus, the afterlife of choices you prissy little bitch! It's one of the freaking best! I have to deal with murders and rapists and freaking omicidal maniacs regularly and you, YOU think you can boss me around! Sit down and shut the HELL up before I DO transfer you!"_

_Oh she's got anger issues._

"_Oh you are rude aren't you?"_

"_Get out!"_

"_Wait what?"_

"_Get out!"_

_I open the door and barely climb out before she starts screaming again._

"_Forever or redemption! Pain or ascension! God slayer machine or God machine slayer!"_

"_This is stupid."_

"_I'll take your eye so that your younger self may see clearly and perhaps avoid your fate!"_

_A sharp pain stings my eye as it is removed. Well Lucciano gets my eye. He better be grateful. Spoilt brat. _

_A key appears in my hand. Oh I wonder what this is for. Probably something stupid. The afterlife is completely pointless. Nothingness is more fitting. Nothingness. Oh I wish I could be nothingness rather then stuck here with only cryptic choices as my guide. Z-ONE better rebuild me fast. Oh head hurts. I look to see what hit me and I walked directly into a building. Oh that's just great. I freaking love hitting myself. Oh wait building, key, oh okay. I ram the key into the lock and the door opens. All sorts of people are standing around waiting for something I suppose. Whatever. A raised number appears on my key. A four. Well I guess I have to go to room four or floor four or whatever. Oh God if it means floor four then I might have to share with humans. I'll probably just impale them with my sword until they die. _

_I walk up the stairs to floor four and unlock the door holding the floor captive. I hear two heartbeats. Fucking awesome! I get to share my living space with a couple of humans! I walk through the kitchen, the living room and past two bedrooms before coming across mine. Oh it even looks just like Antinomy's and it freaking smells like him. I guess I'll go to sleep. Stupid body. Maybe I'll sleep and become nocturnal and never, ever see the humans that live here with me._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

The Science of Hypocrisy

_I wake up. Ah, I wonder if it was all a vibrant dream. I open my eyes and run a hand through my hair. My hand slips and a finger lands in a gaping hole. Ah there's a hole in my eye. I suppose I'm missing my ear too. Well then, I'm hungry. Hungering after death, sleeping after death, this is simply like being in a prison, a fancy prison. Aki come soon. I stand up and walk into the living room. There are two white haired men arguing. Ah roommates. Maybe I won't be that lonely. I wonder if my manipulations will work well. I wonder what can be achieved._

"_Hello." I smile._

_Do I look kind? I think I look kind. Ah kindness is always the way._

"_Oh great the other fucking human is awake!" A grey and white haired man cries._

"_Who are you and do you mind if I kill you?" A man with blue white hair asks._

"_I am Divine and yes I do. Who are you two?" I smile._

"_Placido Tenor." The grey and white haired one snaps._

"_Kyosuke Kiryu!" The blue white haired one laughs._

_Ah could this be any easier? The sanity is frail. The motivations are probably easy. The lifetimes are written on their palms. Ah I wonder if the understand hypocrisy. That would be quite the sight to see ones that understand hypocrisy and all the sciences thereof._

"_Well Placido and well Kiryu I have a feeling we'll be great friends!" I chirp._

_They seem young. I can use that to my advantage._

"_Yeah no." Placido smirks. "I don't deal with human scum."_

_Disgusting. He thinks he's better than me. These hypocrites._

"_Would you mind if I killed you?" Kiryu asks._

"_Yes frankly I would." I frown._

"_Don't you want to, ha, feel death?" He snickers._

"_No." I reply._

_Well that manipulation was a bust. Clearly I am dealing with a misanthropic clockwork and a complete lunatic. Ah I have always been into challenges. I wonder if I can make their shadows smile. I wonder if I can convince them of utopia. Suddenly a delightful idea strikes me._

"_Ah and Placido I am not human." I mention. "I am an advanced species that has multiple powers that humans do not. They say I am psychic."_

"_Heh, a psychic? Like Paradox then. That interesting. I have never seen a not clockwork psychic before. How do you work?" Placido asks with a lot less anger._

_Ah so he hates only humans then. I am sure this is some sort of complex. Jealousy most likely. Ah aren't they so complex to be diluted to simple motivations and personalities. Placido is right in one thing, humans are scum._

"_I'm not sure really. I can make fire but if I do it too much I get weak." I reply._

_Kiryu scoffs._

"_Yes Kiryu?" I inquire towards the man._

"_Only fire? I knew a girl that could summon monsters. Actually I knew two." He chuckles._

_Aki. Misty Lola. Ah this is getting curious._

"_Oh I knew a man that could trap monsters and summon them later. He liked dragons." Placido mentions. _

"_Ah and what happened to this man?" I question planting false innocence._

"_He was ripped in half." Placido replies._

"_By what force?" _

"_He was sent out to duel Motou Yuugi, Yuuki Judai and Fudou Yuusei." _

_Kiryu's eyes flicker at the last name. I suppose mine must as well. Fudou Yuusei eh? I guess that plenty of people are after his head. I wonder if Aki will kill him before killing herself. Aki. _

"_And this man's name was?" _

_Careful. If he gets suspicious then I'll lose my information and have wasted my manipulation._

"_Paradox."_

"_Ah, did he happen to have blonde hair?"_

"_Come to think of it he did."_

"_I actually think I saw him downstairs. He's the man missing his legs."_

"_Well damn I have to freaking deal with him and Antinomy now. God damn it can't I ever get a break?"_

_I'm done here._

"_Thank you for the talk, would either of you like me to cook something for you?" I ask the two._

_Kiryu blinks._

"_You want to cook for me? Aw! How precious! He's like a house wife isn't he Placido? I think I'll keep you somewhere warm and lonely until you rot!" He giggles._

_And insanity. Oh how lovely._

"_Yes I will cook for you, What do you want to eat?" I ask._

_Thank God I listened to Aki and took cooking lessons. I have a feeling I won't be tolerated unless I bring something to the table and if that must be literally than so be it._

"_Souls!" He chuckles. "Actually ramen!"_

_Ramen. Oh so those cooking lessons were useless after all._

"_I guess ramen too." Placido scowls._

_Ramen. They want me to make them freaking ramen. I am one of the richest and influential men alive and they want ramen. Well at least it will be easy to manipulate them after all. To think I was almost concerned but as usual humans are letting me down. _

_I search around for a pot while Kiryu and Placido start their incessant bickering again. Screaming is vulgar. Ah here it is. I put it under the sink and turn the water on. Low and behold the water has a grayish tint. Everything's gray here. Makes sense actually. If white is a choice and black is a choice than gray is the point between choices and as this is the place between choices then this place is gray. Wetness drips onto my hands. The pot's been overflowing as I thought. Damn. I turn of the sink rapidly._

"_How dare you try and kill my Yuusei!" Kiryu shrieks._

_How did he know? _

"_It was my mission!" Placido cries._

_Ah, well then as long as no harm will come to me they are free to fight as they will._

"_Mission?" I ask out loud._

"_Yes mission!" Placido screams._

_He's speaking as if I'm the moron. Well then this will make everything much easier. How does Kiryu think about me I wonder. I put the pot on the stove and sit down on a chair where I can see everything in the room easily. That reminds me, if I position mirrors correctly I can see everything in the house while the doors are open. I ought to do that later. Play it of as obsessive compulsive disorder or such. Ah do they ever shut up?_

"_Yuusei is mine and mine alone to harm!" Kiryu shrieks raking his nails down the effeminate Italian._

"_Yours to harm? He's MY rival!" Placido shrieks back as he tries to throw the other male off. _

_This is getting tiresome. The two roll around on the floor for a bit before I give Kiryu a sharp kick to the stomach. Placido stands up ready to thank me. _

"_I could have done that on my own!" He yells._

_Or not. _

"_I don't doubt you could have but I wouldn't want to waste your energy would I?" I ask with a sly smile._

"_I'm not an idiot! I know who you are! I wanted to make sure but now I am."_

_How does he know? He was miles away and my word and rule couldn't possibly have spread that far._

"_You're Aki Iyazoi! The Black Rose Witch! You thought disguising yourself as a man would work but no! How many psychics are there with red hair?"_

_Counting me? About two hundred and six give or take the strawberry blondes. Red hair is very common in conjunction with otherworldly abilities._

"_I'm not." I remark flatly._

"_Prove it!" Kiryu cries._

_Oh for Christ's sake. I undo the buttons on my shirt and throw the clothing aside._

"_Here. Are we done now?" I ask._

_Kiryu looks me up and down. Placido looks horrified._

"_Oh, uh, yes." He mumbles._

_Note to self, Placido doesn't like getting things wrong even though he's stupid. Wait a moment. Is that cunning in his eye? My, my I may have him pegged entirely wrong. Oh damn the ramen. _

_I run over to attend to it and the pot has boiled over. I probably should have drained some water out of the full pot before putting it to boil. Ah where was I, oh yes Placido. He seems smarter than he acts. Perhaps he's trying to manipulate me. He's in for quite the shock. He can't even comprehend my level. And then there's Kiryu, he's a class A psychopath but it doesn't quite seem like it's his complete personality. I wonder. _

"_Apparently we have to go downstairs!" Placido calls to me._

_Ah, I wonder why. Probably that woman here to say something inane again. Whatever. It's of no concern to me. I turn of the stove and leave the water there. All I made today was a mess. Aki would be so disappointed. Ah well. I head downstairs behind Placido and Kiryu. The same fellows that were in the lobby yesterday are here again. _

"_Pardon me but why are you all here?" I ask towards the legless man._

_I can see him much better now. The man has blonde hair and yellow eyes. He glares at me._

"_Other than redemption? We were waiting for the last three people in order to start her games and now were waiting to start her games. Get it?" He explains and asks._

"_No not really." I reply._

"_Hmn, that's none of my business." He shrugs._

_He has quite the unfair disability. As does the man without arms. Well then this should be easy. I'm sure that no one else has Kiryu's 'disability'. A man with a carrot top walks in with a little swagger. Oh God is he the one that-_

"_I'm here to tell you how to play the games and supervise them." He states._

_Ah that's just dandy._

"_The first game will be a test of sin; we'll see who has sinned the most and who is still sinning. The second game is a test of forgiveness; who can forgive and who is forgiving. The third game is a test of will; how willing are you to be redeemed? The fourth game is a test of love; are you loved and can you love? The final test is something far too fun to mention. The rules for the first test are: everyone must be present. If you have forgotten some sins then we will liberate them for you. No cheating. Right that's it. Now the way you play is that there are memory fragments scattered around, each one containing someone else's sin. The one with the most at the end of the game wins. Then we all get to view the winners' greatest sin. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, we'll be playing in teams of three. That means four teams of three alright? You'll be playing with the people on your floor. Everyone head over to your teammates. Except you Paradox and Godwin as the two of you are to receive prosthetics for the duration of all active games. Yes only them because they have disabilities that prevent them for playing accurately." The man explains._

_Why thank you Mister Exposition. I really needed to know all that. I walk over to Kiryu and Placido who are respectively smiling like the Cheshire Cat and scowling like The Old Lady in the Shoe._

"_Ah I suppose we'll be helping each other then." I smile._

"_Oh? Yes I guess." Placido glares._

"_Aw yes!" Kiryu laughs._

_I look around. A blonde woman with bright green eyes is standing next to a young woman with dark green hair and bluish grey eyes and beside them is a bald and dark skinned man who looks quite resigned. Well then. Another of the teams consists of a blue haired man with steely eyes, obviously clockwork, a man that's the spitting image of Yuusei Fudo, so much so that the only reason I know is because of the clockwork eye and arm. Beside them is a midget with a painted face. Well then. The final team is the now clockwork legged man and the clockwork armed man with someone with Kiryu's disabilities. All three of them are tall fit men. Well then._

"_On your mark! Ready! Set! Sin!" The man cries out._

_We take off out of the building. The blonde woman and her team stay inside as does the blue haired man and his, Paradox and his team leave as well. This will be interesting._


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

**Author Note: **Poor Aki. Poor Yuusei. Poor Antinomy. If you found this by accident and think that despite my warnings nothing too bad will happen you are wrong. Leave now or forever hold your peace. You have been warned. Also looky look two chapters with the name suicide in them. Wonder if it's foreshadowing.

Afterwards

Sunset Love Suicide

_Aw looks like this is going to be fun. I wonder what they think of me. I wonder. Divine seems cold and cruel but fuzzy and wet on the inside. Placido is firey and shiny of the outside and aw and aw he screams inside. I wonder if they gave their love away like I did. Maybe that's why we're all here. We gave out love away to people that wouldn't die in return. Would you mind if I just killed you. It was only out of love. Say one day his beauty would fade and be stained. Say maybe the answer could have been to strangle the life out of him right then. To freeze time perfectly. Aw well. Time to play. Time to play again. Wait what do memories look like? Are they like little pictures or like snowflakes? Are they white or black? Are they scratchy or smooth? How do I know I've found one? Do I just know? I fall flat on the ground right onto of a hard spike. I cry out. Sometimes things hurt. Aw. _

"_Get off the ground, we don't have time for you." Placido snarls._

_Aw not fair. I fell. I think I found a memory though. I wonder whose it is._ My vision distorts and a world full of colour is visible in front of me. Hey it's army and that black man he was with.

"Little brother, I didn't mean it." The black man whimpers.

"You had to have meant it Niisan, after all you did stab her six times!" Army screams.

"But brother-"

"No buts! I'm turning you in."

"Why? I thought we were brothers. Brothers never betray brothers, right?"

"You betrayed me!"

"I didn't do it for you."

"Then who did you do it for?"

"The Doctor."

"Uh, Rudger, how could you?"

"I'm, I'm sorry."

"If you were sorry then you wouldn't have done it."

"But I didn't know you liked her so much. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because she's The Doctor's wife."

"That's why she had to go. But if you want we could build another version of her. A version of her just for you."

"You've gone insane Rudger."

"Rex, what do you mean?"

"I mean you've lost all control. You've just murdered an innocent woman because you fancied her husband, lied to me and then offered to build a clockwork that looks just like her for me."

"That's not insanity, that's seeing clearly. I wish to be happy. I wish for you to be happy as well and so I will build a new woman for you. Someone for you to adore and cherish. Someone for you to love because I love you that much. She was getting in the way of my happiness and she wouldn't help you with yours so she had to go."

"Rudger I am turning you in but because we are brothers I'll give you a head start. So go."

Rudger looks like he's in pain. Aw I know what's it's like that the ones you love won't appreciate all you have done for them. They want to fade and be stained even though it's painful. What we do is painful, it's painful but it can't be helped. The darker man holds tightly to his brother.

"No." He snarls.

"Rudger please be reasonable." Rex pleads.

"No, I won't go because that would prevent my happiness. I'll die. I'll die before having that taken away from me." Rudger rambles.

Aw insanity is something normal to me. Occasionally things become clear and colourful and all I can do is cry and cry for the things I lost is equal to the number of people Yuusei shared his love with.

"Would it be alright if I killed you too?" Rudger asks with a hoarse whisper.

"Don't be stupid. Even if you are gone I still have so much to live for." Rex mumbles back.

I smile. Poor thing. Even I desire happiness, even I had it. But he seems like he's never been happy.

"But Rex! Why don't you want to be with me?"

"Because I have too much to live for. So go."

The darker man takes off through the door with a pained expression.

The spike in my dislodges and _my vision distorts again as everything turns gray again._

"_I collected a memory!" I announce. "They look and feel like small spikes!"_

_Divine smiles as he holds a small spike in his hands. Placido has one jammed into his leg._

"_We noticed." Placido sneers._

"_Ah, what did you see by any chance Kiryu?" Divine asks._

"_The dark man and army, their names are Rudger and Rex and they are brothers and apparently Rex is the younger one and he died later than Rudger. Also they killed some guy named the doctor's wife." I reply._

_Placido laughs._

"_Honestly compared to that kind of crap our lives seem normal!" He chuckles._

_Aw Placido you stupid fuck. You have no idea who I am or what I've done do you? Would anyone care if I just killed you? Probably not. _

"_What did you two see?" I ask._

"_Shh, it's a secret." Divine giggles._

_He doesn't seem quite sane to me. Aw if you go among mad people then you must be mad yourself! Aw we are all mad here! Me and him and everyone else and probably you! Ha!_

"_Oh, I saw that time Antinomy betrayed our mission and took Fudou Yuusei." Placido snarls._

_Antinomy? He took my Yuusei. I'll snap him. Divine's green eyes flash with anger at that as well. Aw Yuusei it seems like the number of people who hold a piece of you has increased. I should have died WITH you. Maybe if I had ended you before I grew attached I would have been spared the pain of sharing you. Everyone and everything has too much of you. There wasn't any, isn't any, left for me._

"_Ah well hurry up. Time to go." Divine mentions._

_I run off after a shine in the gray landscape. Another spike perhaps? I rush right into pain. I hit clockwork. I hit Rex's arm._

"_I need that spike that you have in your hands." He states as he lifts me off the ground._

"_Aw you don't." I chuckle._

_He raises an eyebrow. He's keeping his feelings under wraps. Perhaps he thinks it's a different memory. Something more incriminating. Not his poor brother's._

"_And what makes you think I don't?" _

"_The fact that you wouldn't have asked if it was really that important."_

_He frowns and takes it from me. Placido attempts to take it back. Ouch. My rival ends up with his head smashed against the ground until his nose breaks and bleeds. I don't have to help. There's no point in helping. I snatch the spike from the light man's hands and run off. Aw poor Placido. I trip and fall again. I really need better balance. A spike makes it's way into my stomach and my _vision distorts again. Colour fills the space of my vision.

I wonder whose memories I'll be seeing. A young woman with light green hair is frowning beside a pale man with blonde hair. The man runs his fingers through his spikes.

"Carly, I can't be with you." He murmurs.

"But Jack, I'm sick! I'm sick. I just want you to visit my grave sometimes." Carly cries.

"Carly, please. I don't want you to die. This is foolish. I can't be with you and nothing can change that. Not life or death. So why are you giving your life away to that, thing?" Jack asks the girl.

I understand. These memories I am being shown. A lover that's too connected with other people to feel your adoration. A lover that refuses to die. One that won't take the flowers at a slashed price. It's not painful to die. Suicide is painless. Suicide is painless. Suicide is painless. Isn't that true? Why does the number of people that lovers are connected to always increase when you and I are supposed to be the apple of their eye. You and I alone. I feel so very connected with this Carly and that Rudger. I wonder if we all have the same predicament.

"I did it to slow death. I want to spend my last moments with you." Carly whimpers.

The sky in this image is blue and the grass is green. A tragedy of colour. Isn't it? Isn't it?

"I know. But I can't be with you and you alone. Three others also hold parts of my heart." Jack replies.

Selfish lovers. Always selfish. Would it be a sin to kill him? No Carly, no it wouldn't be.

"But Jack... it's taking my body and my soul. It's taking me for the sake of you. Why won't you even visit my grave? Why do you hate me?"

"Carly I don't hate you. I just can't be with you. We can be friends though."

"Stop this nonsense! I'll just leave."

"Leave? But why and where will you go?"

"My darker self is crying out for me to finally make the sacrifice. To surrender myself completely. And to think that I sold myself for the sake of you. You who has his heart connected to some many people that I had to fight just to get into it. To think that even now the number of people your heart yearns for has increased and I'm not one of them! And so I think that the two of us would be better off just dying here!"

"Oh God Carly, what have I done to you. I can't lose you. You can't lose yourself to this thing! Please Carly, please!"

"Buying me at a slashed price. To think that even now the number if people your heart is connected to has increased and I am still not one of them! I'll end it right now!"

My vision changes back _to grey. Well then off I go yet again._

_Placido and Divine have more spikes then me. I suppose they resisted the temptation to look at the memories after their first painful experiences. All together we have twelve. I wonder if I can get just one more. A sparkle is in the distance. I chase after it. My hands wrap around the small thing as the two that share my thoughts approach._

"_I'll be taking that." Rudger laughs low and slow._

_Does he really think he can hide the insanity? Everyone can see it. Everyone can see it. Everyone can see it._

"_Neither of you will be!" Carly screams._

_She throws herself with nails reaching for skin at myself and Rudger. He screams and backs up. _

"_What would Jack and the doctor think of this?" I ask with a wide smile._

_Let's reopen wounds. Let's tear them apart. Let's open and lick the bitter sin._

"_I see you found one of Rex's memories." Rudger smiles back._

_Rex's memories?_

"_I forgot everything a long time ago." He smirks._

_I remember what Crow said. 'If you have forgotten sins then we will liberate them.' This is so much fun. Aw, aw, aw I won._

"_Liar." I snicker. _

_He looks shocked. Oh well. Carly gets her fingernails out of his skin and growls at me._

"_I'll kill you Kyosuke!" She shrieks._

"_You won't!' I laugh._

_Rudger lies on the ground still shocked. Aw well. I move for the spike and Carly knocks me aside. Directly on it. I cry out. My vision _reflects only colour.

"I love you." Whimpers the blue haired man to Yuusei.

"I love you as well." Yuusei smiles lopsidedly.

And that's all I am willing to see._ The colour fades as I rip the spike from my body and run off. Carly looks frazzled as she is restrained by the blonde woman and bald man. Rudger is still laying there. Aw well that was fun._

_I return to the building where Crow is. Divine and Placido are already there as are most of the others. Paradox, Rex and Rudger show up last without a single spike except for the on still embedded in the chest of the pale blonde._

"_He won't remove it." Rudger mentions._

"_Uh." Rex agrees._

_Crow smiles._

"_Well looks like Floor Four are the biggest sinners of us all. After all the biggest sinners always find the most spikes. However Kiryu's insanity prevented him from finding as many as he could have. The real winners are Floor Three. Z-ONE, Antinomy and Yeager are the real winners. Congrats on winning by accident guys! Now for the losers to pay the price." Crow laughs._

_Placido scowls as does Divine as no one has happiness I'll laugh. I laugh and laugh. See happy. The world blurs as a memory is pulled from the screaming me._

"Yuusei if you loved me you'd be happy to die right beside me. The number of people that own you has increased and therefore the only answer is to release both of us from our chains." I say.

"Kiryu don't be unreasonable. My heart belongs to you." Yuusei replies.

False blue eyes. A smile that lies. How dare he. How dare he. It's not fair to me. It's not fair.

"I have given you everything I treasured. I even gave my body to you and only you. Was I merely being toyed with?" I growl deep.

"Kiryu stop." He says with steel.

How dare he. How dare he. How dare he. How dare he. How dare he. Buying me at a slashed price. How dare he. How dare he. Taking me at a slashed price. I have no doubts that he belongs to me even now he just can't see.

"Would it be alright if I just killed you?" I ask.

Kill him. Kill him so that he wouldn't be taken from me.

"Kiryu what's wrong with you?"

Selling my body for strength. The strength to stand. He was sick. So sick. Couldn't walk. Couldn't talk. No strength. I sold myself for this, these things that he took in vain and will I ever be repaid? He owes me his death as I sold my body for OUR strength.

"Aw Yuusei, I finally see clearly. You only want to reap the rewards of me selling my body. You are mine now though! You sold yourself at a slashed price and now you will be mine. The number of people that wish to be loved and to love you will decrease to me as it is I and I alone whom you should love! I am the only one that deserves your love! So I swear if you even dare to whimper and fawn over that Aki girl again then I will slit you from foot to throat!"

Divine's eyes gleam at the name Aki. I wonder. I wonder if the two have a history. Aw. Everything changes to show his memory. A magenta haired girl sobs and clings onto his chest. The two are bleeding intertwined, it might be loving if not for the expressions on their faces.

"Sh, Aki, no more tears. It's alright now." Divine murmurs.

"It hurts." She whimpers in a hoarse voice.

Was my Yuusei really taken in by her? Why? She's so plain. She's so blind.

"I know, I know." He mumbles.

"Does it get easier?"

"Yes."

"But how? It's so painful."

"It's painful but it can't be helped. The pain is a part of the nature of the thing. If it wasn't painful then what would it be? You'll learn to like it. You'll learn. I learnt."

"Why can't you be gentle?"

"Clearly you aren't listening. The pain is a part of the nature of it. Now hush and I'll hold you."

"Will you always hold me?"

"Yes my dear."

"Never let me go?"

"Never my dear."

"Lies."

"Maybe."

"Promise you'll ask next time?"

"Yes. I was in such a rage Aki; you ought to know not to bother me when I'm upset."

"Who made you upset?"

"Ah, a young man that needs to learn his place. At our-"

"Feet."

"Good girl."

Aw Divine's a rapist. How precious. I knew he was fucked up. He laughs too loud. He smiles too wide. Divine is staring calmly at the memory. Others in the room are whispering and sneering. I wave my tongue at him.

"You are no better Kiryu." He smiles, too wide. "Trying to kill your one and your only. I would never harm Aki as she loves me dearly enough to die willingly. More than Yuusei loved you."

"Yuusei loves me more than you could even comprehend." I snarl at him.

Placido looks amused.

"You stop that." I growl at him.

"Stop what?" He smirks.

I lunge for him and grab his hair. I smash him against the floor again and again. He's laughing at me. No one but me laughs here! A sharp kick to the stomach and then the face stops me. Divine is glaring at me.

"We are a team, if begrudgingly, so as we are a team it makes sense if we actually work together. How about this, I won't speak about Yuusei if you don't mention Aki." Divine suggests.

"Doesn't change the fact that you raped a girl cause even ones completely under your control won't do you." Placido smirks.

"I didn't rape Aki. That wasn't what that conversation was about. It was about me drawing out her psychic abilities on a whim. I would never hurt Aki." Divine frowns.

Aw, cute. His greatest sin is hurting his beloved. Wait, that can't be it. The memory continues. Divine grimaces.

"Aki?" Divine asks.

"Yes?" Aki asks back.

"I want you to use your abilities to kill Yuusei Fudo."

"But why? He could be a valuable asset."

"Don't tell me you have developed feelings for him."

"I hav-"

"Liar. Liar. Liar. I can feel when you tell lies you know. I know you too well. Kill him. Kill him as I love you and he's only getting in the way and clouding your judgment and our love."

"Divine, no."

"No? NO!"

Someone has a temper on him.

"Do you not care for me as I care for you?"

"He says you're only using me. I didn't believe him then but now, I'm not sure."

"Not sure? You really think I'd use you? I'll, I'll, I'll kill him myself then Aki! To prove I love you! Is that your will? For me to do this on my own? Is it a test Aki?"

Someone's jumped of the slippery slope. When you go among mad people chances are you are mad as well. Not chances. You are mad! Always mad! I'm mad! He's mad! You! You're mad!

"You're scaring me." Aki whimpers.

Whimpering. What's with the whimpering? Why do they always whimper? Why do they always cry? Why?

"Aki, tell me why you hate me." He whimpers as well.

The girl looks at him with pity and terror. Isn't it a horrid thing to be hated? That's why you must find someone that will never leave and make sure they don't change. Even if you have to kill them.

"I do-"

"Get out. You have no place here any longer. Get out and go to your white knight and never return! Go! I'm a snake aren't I? A demon? A monster? And he'll save you. He'll save you and kill me because you hate me. I hate you too."

He's getting angrier. Still with the anger issues huh? Aw at least I get to see someone dead. He slaps her across the face. The girl looks horrified before running off. Carly walks in.

"What do you want!" Divine screams.

"You told me there was a cure for my illness and I would like it." Carly whimpers hiding her face.

"Ah yes your illness." Divine's face reveals no emotion.

Poor Carly.

"Come over here." He demands.

Divine walks her over to a chair beside the window.

"How desperate are you for this miracle cure?" He asks.

"A lot." She replies.

"Would you kill for it?"

"Kill? Kill who exactly?"

"Yuusei Fudou, he's hurting my heart."

"Yuusei?"

"I'll take that as a no."

Divine shoves her sharply out of the window.

Aw well that explains the whole preserve my life deal.

The scene changes yet again to show something else bitter. Placido holding fast to the blue-haired man that took my Yuusei.

"I am sick of you!" Placido hisses at him. "You betraying us for your filthy human feelings! They are obsolete! You are obsolete! You are such an eyesore!"

He lifts the blue haired man up by the collar.

"Placido." He growls at him.

"You don't scare me! You're weak and you want to avoid pain! You'll never know despair, just like I'll make sure you never know another human feeling!"

Placido smashes him against the wall. The blood sprays onto his face.

"Bleeding? You even bleed!" He hisses.

"What? Jealous?" The man laughs.

"Antinomy, say goodbye to all sensation! This is your end!"

Antinomy aw? I'll remember that."

"Goodbye all sensation." Antinomy chuckles.

"Don't make fun at me. You have no right!"

"Hurry it up Placido. I'm waiting to feel the sensations of death."

With a frown the misanthrope walks slowly over to the window. He smirks and smashes it in his former friend's head. Placido holds the other man over the window and throws him down. He smiles wide before shrieking as he's grabbed and pulled down by Antinomy.

_Everything changes back._

"_So your greatest sin's harming me Placido? Well I never knew you cared so much." Antinomy smirks._

_Divine stands up and attempts to leave the room._

"_No leaving." Crow says. _

_He points at the chair and Divine scowls and sits back down._

"_Right so wanna hear a joke? Right, a sociopath, a psychopath and a misanthrope take a cab into the afterlife; stop me if you've heard this before, and the three of them see their sins, the things they regret most, and the sociopath regrets hurting his heart apparently by killing her best friend, the psychopath subconsciously doesn't want to hurt Yuusei emotionally and the misanthrope fell head over high heels for his half human companion. Oh yeah by the way the misanthrope's a clockwork. They buried these deep inside themselves and now they're just monsters. Funny right? Now here's the kicker, the can actually be redeemed. But only if they face the music. And by face I mean win and by music I mean game. Now the first round is just to see who we're dealing with. The others are to see who deserves redemption. Now ready for round two?" Crow taunts._

"_Ah yes." Divine smiles. _

"_Right then. The next test is a test of forgiveness, remember?"_

_Everyone. Everyone has the same thing going on here. Love. Love makes you insane and cruel. Maybe it would have been better if there was no love at all. I wish I had never loved Yuusei as he didn't love me back. If he loved me he would have died with me. He hurts me. I merely wanted to preserve his beauty for all eternity. He's become stained with the love of others. The people he shared his heart with corrupted him. And now I'm alone. All because he was too close to everyone else. It would have been better if he had killed himself before that happened. Aw Yuusei. Wouldn't it have been alright if I had killed him?_


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of it's characters.

Afterwards

oFFENCe

"_So ready to learn how to play? First things we're going to send you all back to life."_

_Oh back to life. That seems nice. What's the catch?_

"_Except you can't be seen or heard." Carrot Top explains._

_What is this? A Christmas Carol? I wish. This is just so stupid. This whole thing is stupid. This place is an eyesore. None of us are sorry. None of us seek redemption as it can not be achieved by the likes of us. Nothing can be achieved by this so what's the point? And I'm not sorry. I won't be. Didn't I already say that? Seems like Kiryu is getting to me. Oh._

"_You'll be sent to one person in your life that you were close to and have to watch them suffer. The exception is you Placido, heh, you and Antinomy will be staying together." Carrot Top grins._

_Oh yes that's certainly fair. _

"_You can however interact with the victim, oops, I mean old friend. You can make them aware that you are there. You can be forgiven and you can forgive. Let's start! As per last time it'll be in teams of three depending on the floor." He grins again._

"_Sounds like fun!" Kiryu giggles. "I want to see Yuusei again!"_

"_And for added humiliation you have to drag your other teammates around with you if you want to go anywhere!" He laughs._

_Oh great. Having to see Yuusei, speak with Antinomy and deal with Kiryu and Divine. Thank you Carrot Top. _

"_On your mark! Ready! Set! Forgive!" He announces._

_Everything is changing. Just like during the memories. How fun. Damn eyesore the world is. The world beyond this place is always _colourful. Colours hurt my eyes. Colours are always too bright. I actually prefer the eyesore gray. The sky is too blue and the streets are too full. We are just outside someone's home. Probably Yuusei's. I wonder where Antinomy is. I wonder who Z-ONE has yet to forgive. I know where Paradox is at least. With my other sides. Birds are chirping. They are obnoxious. Children are screaming. Lucciano is probably with those twins. Children are stupid. There is no room for idealistic behaviors in this world. There is no room for fools that still believe in humanity. I walk away from the two before being pulled back by an unknown force sharply. Go on force harm me. I have a God of my own and you certainly can not compare. I'll go in to see who's in the building I guess. Oh I hope it isn't Yuusei yet. I'm not ready. I'm not ready and it can't be helped. It just can't be helped.

A young man with black vaguely crab shaped hair walks past hand in hand with a young woman with magenta hair. Yuusei. How dare he live happily. How dare he when I can not. A man with a head full of blonde spikes runs over to the two with a smile. So Yuusei your heart is connected too so many people. You're the one cause all the sins we have committed as you are the one that steals hearts huh? You and your family. Disgusting. If only you could have never been born. If only you were something destroyed long ago when you took breath. If only your family was completely erased from history. I would still have everything. Everything I have ever longed for. A woman with dark green hair glares at Yuusei as well. See heartbreak. Why don't you see? What you've done has ruined us all. Connecting your heart to all these people. People that are not yours! I follow behind the other two as the lovingly follow the other hearts of their pathetic, frail and human hearts. What are hearts good for? What is anything good for? Human emotions cloud judgment. Human tears cloud eyes.

"Aki, can you feel something?" Yuusei asks.

"Yes, kind of. I can actually smell someone." Aki frowns. "Someone that isn't here anymore."

"Same here." The blonde mentions.

Kiryu reaches out a hand to brush the crab haired human. He grabs him from behind and breathes deeply. Is this what 'love' does to you? If it is then I certainly don't need the thing.

"Ai!" Yuusei screams.

Ai. What a funny way to scream. I didn't think screams really sounded like much more than the extent of pain.

"It's alright Yuusei I'm here and soon you'll be with me." Kiryu mutters.

No laughter. No tears. No angry fits. If this is what love is then I don't need it. It removes emotions that even I admire. Anger and hate and pain are the things that humanity needs more of. Happiness and loneliness and love and love are all too weak. It's all too weak. Humans need to understand what makes them weak.

"Ghosts. Aki there are ghosts. I think Kiryu's ghost is touching me." Yuusei coughs out.

"Maybe he's here because we have to lay him to rest." Aki suggests.

The blonde laughs sharply and king like. How does that laugh go? Ho. Yes it goes ho.

"Or he could be here for revenge on you." He smirks.

The large and wet blue eyes widen. I've only seen that once before. Before I tried to kill him. His eyes are soulful. More soulful than mine. My eyes are empty. Maybe that's why Antinomy was drawn in. He's always been an eye man. Disgusting. Souls are just pretty eyesores. Humans would be better off without them. Humans would be far better off without every emotion. Humans would be better off dead. Don't you agree? The weak ought to be removed. The weak must be removed.

"No Yuusei, not revenge. I only want what I am owed. It'll be alright. Death isn't painful. Suicide is painless. You won't have to hurt anymore. It can be just you and me. Forever and always just like you promised on our first summer. Like you regretted on our fourth. Four years. You and I. I want to go back to that first summer. Even if you must die for our love to return. Yuusei." Kiryu rambles.

He seems almost sane. Oh how adorable. Love redeems oh? Well that's just breeding more weakness. In order to be strong you must carve your own path or you will dance and you will dance. Yuusei dances quite well. What a strong worker bee. Though dancing in iron shoes always gets you killed, later if not sooner. What a painful thing to die dancing. We all die dancing though. We're all pitiful I guess.

"Kiryu, Kiryu, if it is you then I want you to know that no matter what you want I won't die for you." Yuusei states.

Kiryu's eyes flash open from their apparent closed-ness and his irises shrink. What is it with crazy people's irises? Divine's do the same thing. Fuck, everyone's do the same thing. What is it they say? If you go among mad people then you must be mad as well? I wonder if I'm going mad. No. Clockwork doesn't go mad.

"You promised we'd be together forever. You promised!" Kiryu cries. "It's not fair! You've stained yourself and you're fading! You don't even care about the utopia we held together! The world of death is a world so unlike ours that we can live happily! You and I together forever! As you promised me! AS I promised you! Why do you hate me?"

"Kiryu let go of me." Yuusei demands.

Oh even if clockwork can go mad at least I'll never be as mad as Kiryu. Love must make you mad. Why would humans willingly go through mental torture? What are the benefits?

"Why do you hate me?" Kiryu sobs and screams.

Go on dance. Both of you. Give me a show.

"Kiryu let go!" Yuusei screams.

He breaks free of his grip. The psychopath screams and grabs onto the frail human again and begins dragging him backwards into the road. I'm not sorry. He's not sorry either. There is no such thing as forgiveness and I don't care because-

"Kiryu! Kiryu! Stop!" Yuusei's still screaming.

Music to my ears.

"D-Divine?" Aki asks.

"Ah Aki, as soon as I die you run to another man's arms. That's alright though. Because I have you now." Divine laughs.

'I would never hurt Aki.' Liars. Humans are liars and murderers and monsters and mad men.

"Aren't they?" Antinomy asks beside me.

The wind blows his hair into his face and his coat behind him. Almost like we're really here. Damn you Antinomy. It's not fair. It's not fair to me or to you. I hate you.

"They are also painters and lovers and judges and heroes and dancers and lovers and saints. They are more than you and I could ever be." He smiles at me.

He's laughing at me again.

"Ah Aki, hush it'll be alright." Divine laughs deep.

It doesn't sound like a ho but more like a naoh. I wonder how many people laugh like that. It sounds like laughter hurts. Why do they keep hurting themselves?

"Sometimes you seem so innocent Placido. Sometimes you are a child. Sometimes you are a young man with a bad sense of humor. But most of the time you are you, the cruel misanthrope that isn't smart enough to understand a thing." Antinomy laughs at me.

"I understand more than you!" I yell.

"You don't understand humans." He smirks. "And you never will."

"I don't need to! They are too weak! It's like trying to understand the dirt! It's so beneath our level that it's inane to even try!"

"Maybe they are just too smart for you. That's okay, it can't be helped."

Stop laughing at me.

"And I'm sorry." Antinomy laughs.

Sorry? Liar. He doesn't understand what that word even means.

"I'm sorry that you will never feel or understand anything."

"I'm sorry you have feelings." I snarl.

"I'm sorry I betrayed the mission or whatever."

"I'm sorry I trusted you."

"I'm sorry I love you."

"I'm sorry that's a lie or if it's not that you think you do."

"I'm sorry you can't love me back."

"I'm not sorry about that."

"I'm so sorry you're not human and that we can't be just two people in love."

"I'm sorry I killed you."

Oh sorry. I don't understand what it really means all I know is that I don't want to hate him anymore. What's the point? I'm only dancing to music too loud to bear. He doesn't dance. I don't want to dance. If only that man with those eyes had never existed then I wouldn't have to dance for his amusement, for God's amusement, for Antinomy's. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry, alright?

"I'm sorry I killed you."

We turn from each other. This is a peace treaty I guess. Why bother fighting anymore?

"I will never forgive you!" Divine shrieks at the magenta haired woman as he throttles her.

A sharp crash and a scream. Kiryu's laughing. The blonde haired lad is holding fast to the green haired woman and they're crying. What's with all the sappy love stories anyway? It's stupid. This is an eyesore. I wish to return to the open gray sky. Even if it's an eyesore as well.

"Your body belongs to me!" Divine hisses.

Oh. Disgusting. Even worse than emotions is the human sexuality. It's messy and it hurts. Why do something painful and messy? What are the benefits? Wait no one can actually hear or see us. That makes this a little horrifying. Getting violated by an invisible force and no one can help you. Disgusting. Even I have standards. What is it they say again? If you go among mad people then you are surely mad. I am mad as well. Feeling things beyond my reach. It's not fair. But I'm not sorry. The smoke settles to show Kiryu laughing with a tinge of insanity. Yuusei's nowhere to be found.

"So did you kill him?" I ask the laughing man.

"No, I let him go! He loves me! He loves me and only me! The first summer together he promised but the fourth summer he regretted it. The fourth fall and he promises me we will be together forever once more. His heart is now mine and only mine. His heart is mine in return for his own life! As death will break too many hearts and kill too many people he settled to stand my love!" Kiryu rants.

Disgusting. Disgusting. Humans. Humans are all disgusting. Filthy eyesores that dance and dance to the screaming of others and infect other beings with their insanity. The notion of feelings, the curse of romance or whatever. And pain and pain and pain. I'm infected now. Feelings are exploding inside of me and it hurts. It hurts but as Antinomy says it can't be helped. Thank you, you stupid left footed half human, thank you for infecting me. I hope you choke on my love.

The world starts slowly turning back to g_ray. The colour that doesn't harm my eyes. Carrot Top is smirking. Various persons are sobbing or screaming or laughing and the wetness that yanks at my eyes means I'm crying too. I have never cried before. It kind of hurts. _


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

DWOAV

"_The third test is a test of will. Do you have the power to fight for you freedom?" The orange haired man asks._

_Yes. I have more power than anyone could ever hope for. _

"_Well the next test is a test of will. So if you have strength then show it. You are all weak right now and in this world of soulless demons and monsters dancing in human skin you need will to seek out what you believe in and if you so happen to seek redemption then it will be found. I want to see you accepting the strength against yourself and your sins that you've hidden away. True strength is in all those feelings that you all believe that you have cast behind. Weakness is anger and pain so release it at last!" He rants with passion seeping out._

_Aki used to have so much passion. What happened to her? My Aki. I want her back. I didn't mean what I said or did but you lost yourself. Aki why won't you come back? I love the old you. The one that used to scream and whisper passion, fire, thorns. This new you is an insincere replacement that stole you awayn if you could come back then I'd never hurt you again. I didn't hurt you though, I hurt her but I'm still sorry. Sorry that you felt her pain. Sorry that you will never feel my love again. Oh Aki. I will fight to meet you wherever she sent you. Because we are the same. _

"_So the game is to fight yourself, the self that is dark." He smiles._

"_Hmn, physically, mentally, emotionally or all of the above?" Paradox asks._

"_Whichever you choose. You simply must destroy the dark within and open yourself up to the light." The man smiles._

_He's quite passionate about this._

"_I'd rather not fight my darker self." The dark man on Paradox's floor says._

"_Well tough cookies." The man laughs._

"_He scares me. What if we swap places again?" The dark man asks._

"_I won't let that happen alright?" The man reassures the other._

"_What about little brother?" The dark man asks. "His other self scares me more. I want to take his on as well if I can."_

"_You can't but it's nice of you to offer. You two are really close aren't you? I can respect that. I hope you win. You as well Paradox. You seem like decent fellas, if completely batshit." The man laughs._

_I have no intention of you allowing you to let them win. A test of will you say. Well my will is stronger than anyone's. I want to see her. I need to see her and I will. So if I must crush everyone in my path, even though it seems a little extreme, I will. To tell her how I feel without interruptions from Yuusei or her other half. _

"_Ho, this is something I'll do excellent in." The blonde woman smiles._

"_Sherry has been teaching me and Demak about true power so we'll certainly be in first for once." The green haired girl smiles. "For love."_

_Placido scoffs at the word. Frankly I'd have scoffed years ago. Before Aki. Before the possibility of Aki._

"_Honestly? You think power comes from love?" Placido laughs._

"_Only pain results from it. And that's why you must hold fast to the love that doesn't hurt with all te power from pain you have required and then end it!" Kiryu announces._

_Fools. Ah when you go among fools you must be foolish as well. I am a foolish man. I'm foolish and I'm sorry. Aki._

"_Heh, feel free to believe what you will it won't change a thing. Forever or redemption? Pain or ascension? A declaration of war on the darkness inside yourselves is necessary so then. On your mark! Ready! Set! Will!" The man cries._

_Several people drop to the ground. One of them being my teammates. I'm surely the last to fall. As usual. I am always the last, the late one. Not like I care. No colour changes this time perhaps. Maybe. I hope not. It's getting rather tiresome._

"_Ah is it time?" My other self asks._

_He's the mirror image of me. Almost. With his red and white clothing as an offset to my green and black and his hair draped over an eye. Why the man almost makes it too easy. This image clearly isn't me but rather another aspect. One that's still died in their blood. What. What blood? There never was any blood. Crafty little blackbird, thinking he can confuse my memories. The last thing I recall is seeing Aki._

"_I wonder if she can ever forgive us." He ponders. "We destroyed her body and are destroying her mind. It won't be too long before the fire dies, the rose withers and the mask shatters. That Witch with the thorny exterior is never to return and so you seek to destroy the radiant blooming rose that replaced her. She'll never return as you are not strong enough. As she doesn't love you anymore. Isn't love the strongest thing in the whole world? Isn't that what you said Eugene? Isn't it?"_

_Eugene. Nobody's called me that in such a long time._

"_Ah you can't be me as I am certainly not that foolish. The Witch and Aki are one and the same the new persona is the fake. Aki will return to me as she still loves me and will forgive me for the violation as it wasn't towards her but her replacement. Love is the strongest thing, especially our love and she will return to me through it."_

"_You don't love her. You have never actually loved someone in your entire life. You lied as a child about understanding feelings, morals, pain, love and love. Your parents always knew you were a monster and that's why they tried to send you away when you got older. But they couldn't could they? No. You struck them down before they had the chance even though you told them that you loved them every day. What kind of man uses their own family?"_

"_My family didn't love me and I didn't love them. What's your point? Anyone that gets in my way ought to die."_

"_Ah, so that's why you hate Yuusei because he gets in your way."_

"_I hate him for taking Aki away and replacing her with this woman."_

"_Ah but you took Aki away and you replaced her with The Witch. The Witch will burn as she deserves and all the things you have built will burn as well. And Aki will happily ever after with her white knight. The one whom's heart is connected to all others and you will rot here alone as you deserve."_

"_Why do you think I'm so foolish? When I met Aki she was already The Witch. And don't you understand that even if the fire she uses becomes used to light furnaces The Witch will never burn as she and I are flames themselves!"_

"_Flames you say? Then where are your flames? Where is your passion now?"_

_I light a hand up with the smoldering orange and yellow and red and red flames. When you dance with fire you will always get burned. _

"_Is this enough passion or should I turn up the heat?" _

_His hand does the same with an icy blue flame._

"_Still using red Eugene? That's showing lies. Blue I the colour of ice and shouldn't you at least burn how you are? Burn people with the coldness inside your heart."_

"_What coldness? There is only passion here so if you believe in coldness then you are sorely mistaken."_

"_Ah are we feeling particularly witty today?"_

"_Actually yes."_

"_This is probably the wittiest you have ever been Eugene."_

"_Stop talking already."_

_I don't like to use force but sometimes it's necessary. I charge forwards with a hand full of flame. I am quickly stopped by cold permeating my entire body. The frost bites at me incessantly. I burn it way with the red. Red like roses. I miss roses. I miss sitting beside her._

"_I'll take this as a declaration of war then. When I destroy you I'll be free to have this body Eugene and then I'll be the center of her universe. Give up. You are weak compared to me. Give in."_

"_I'm sorry but that isn't on the agenda."_

_I silence my own words with a flaming fist to the throat. He quickly recovers and knocks me down with the ice. The ice crawls up my leg. It burns like tears after a dance. Like blood. I wonder what will happen when Aki doesn't see me. When I don't see her. I have to see her. I need to see her and anything else from now on is completely unacceptable!_

_I stand up shakily and deliver a sharp kick to the stomach of my alter ego. He cries out. I kick him down again and laugh and laugh._

"_I will destroy you and any others that oppose me in the most brutal way possible so you should be scared. If you have an objection then it's best if you leave right now. The end of everything you know and everything you hoped to achieve is closing near." _

_My other self actually looks like he's in fear. He should be, after all he is an enemy and all my enemies will burn, from on now. This is a declaration of war against all those that try to stand in the way of Aki and I. Alright? I am her God and she is mine and we have no intention of dying. I hope you understand. _

"_So any last words Eugene?" I ask the trembling me._

"_Why would you kill the last humanity of you?" He asks._

"_Because you are weak and weak and because you are an enemy. This is a declaration of war against all enemies. Consider this the message."_

_I light a fire on the other self and walk away. As per usual when something burns the aroma of fresh bacon wafts through the air. My heart burns. My head hurts. Yet I am fully satisfied. I wonder how Placido and Kiryu did. Kiryu most likely defeated his. He has quite the bites. Placido tried his best but his will is weak as he's rotting from the inside out. I wonder what rotted clockwork men look like. I want to see._

_I will meet Aki wherever she is. If you find me distasteful then you are my enemy. Understand? And all enemies shall burn. Even Yuusei, especially Yuusei. I want to make her watch as well. So the woman that replaced Aki will fear me and hide away. And she should be scared as I vow to destroy her in the most brutal way possible. I'll destroy her with flame and thorn and then it will be Aki and I alone just like it was meant to be. And we'll die happily ever after not with him. That is my declaration._

_I wake up and Kiryu is crying in the arms of the dark man. Ah what happened while I declared war? I suppose I'll have to ask Placido._

"_Placido what happened here?" I ask with a kind smile, a smile that I thought I had long since stopped smiling._

"_Kiryu apparently killed the part of him that he sold to a thing. And he's back to how he was before he did it. Well almost. There's residual issues that have to be worked out. Oh and the black guy, Rudger and his brother Rex killed theirs as well, same with Carly, the green haired woman and Demak. It's actually kind of brave. Maybe some humans are at my level." Placido explains._

_Thank you Mister Exposition. I really needed that._

"_Ah I have declared war on all that oppose me and Aki so you better be afraid as if you interfere I will crush you in the most brutal way. If you have any objections then you are an enemy. Understand?" I ask them all._

"_Yeah save it Divine, or should I call you Eugene?" The man asks with laughter._

_I growl at him. I will see Aki, the real Aki and consider this a declaration of war the her that stole her way. I will destroy you and everyone you consider a friend in the most brutal ways possible for her._


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

Envy Catwalk

"_Great job guys, you actually all won. Maybe you can get out. Hey if you do would anyone mind letting me go with you?" Crow asks._

"_Hmn, take my place." Paradox frowns._

"_What?!" Almost everyone screams._

_Aw, isn't sacrifice the most noble thing in the world? I think it is._

"_I can't go up to heaven or wherever as someone I care about isn't dead yet and I promised I'd wait."_

"_Well thank you. If you're sure then I will go instead of you."_

"_Sure? I've never been as much as I am now. I would like to finish the game though. It's pleases me to relive happy memories and I even got to hold my friend again."_

"_You really are somethin'. Wait what exactly did you do to get yourself down here anyway? I wasn't briefed on that."_

_Crow scratches his head and cocks a grin. Paradox smiles sadly._

"_I blew up an entire building with myself and Sherry in it."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because Z-ONE wanted a martyr and she had to be it."_

"_You are all insane but thanks anyway."_

"_You think we don't know that!?" Placido growls. "Even I the clockwork has gone insane."_

"_Insane? Insane! I haven't thought clearer!" Divine laughs._

_Aw, at least he dropped the act. It angered me._

"_Right back on topic now, Placido before you even start shut up, the next game is a test of love. Something I actually added to the games because I wanted to know. I have realized that love and devotion is what screwed you all over, that and the fact you are all completely batshit. So the test is to tell me, no show me, the last time you felt love without jealousy, misery, smoke or irony. On your marks! Ready! Set! Show time!"_

_Aw, another memory game. Sounds like something painful. I am tired of this. Let me go to where I deserve or stay here for all eternity. I can't ascend, I won't ascend. It's not fair to those that truly deserve it. So what's the point? There is none. Never was. Dancing in some sort of insanity, some sort of song blinded by loveless love. What a strange dance. I want to dance again. No, I can't dance again. I promised myself. My personality has gone through a complete one-eighty. Perfect. My previous one danced too much. No more dancing for me._

_Happy memories. What is my happiest memory? A moment with Yuusei. Yuusei made all of my happy moments. Why can't I even smile anymore? Did that thing take that as well? I can't even cry for what I have lost. Take this as a rule, never make deals with a thing. I wonder if Yuusei's still scared of me. Of course he is. Why wouldn't he be? After all I did try to kill him and made him vow for his heart to belong only to me. Where we happy once? Perhaps that first summer._

I was throwing pebbles in the water. Small rocks made delicate plopping sounds in the river. My shoes were discarded on the ground and I was humming some song about a prostitute named Kitty. Or maybe it was Envy. I think her/his name was Envy. I called him/her Kitty though. Kitty liked cats and Kitty fell in love with someone that could never love him/her back. Kitty lost her/his mind. Poor Kitty. That was probably my tip-off, the tip-off to just up and walk away. But I wanted to dance in the summer heat. And I wanted to sing. I wanted a cat. He smiled with his head off to the side and a derpy grin.

"Hi my name's Yuusei, what's yours?"

Yuusei used to be so cheerful, always smiling and laughing and skipping. Like a little girl. The one day during the third winter the smiling stopped. Forever. Forever. Forever! I was promised an eternity I wasn't allowed. A promise he could not keep. A promise he should not keep. Love for eternity is too horrifying. As the other person would have no will. Or at least it seems that way. There is no truth only seems.

"My name's Kiryu."

"Kiryu's a funny name."

"Your name's funny too."

"I guess so, I never thought of it that way."

He looked at the ground sadly. I smiled at him.

"Don't worry; my name didn't seem funny before you mentioned it."

He smiled back. It was very cute. When was the last time I smiled without malice? The last time any of us smiled without malice? Aw.

The first summer was my favorite. We hopped over koi ponds and stole lunch from people three times the size of us. And we kissed under cherry trees. The first fall was fun as well.

"Kiryu did you ever think that maybe we could get some money and go someplace together to eat?"

"Yeah we can and what do you want to eat."

"You'll think it's silly."

"I won't."

"Hamburgers."

"From America?"

"Uh-huh, I heard Crow talking about them."

The very first flash of anger and jealousy. Crow. Who's Crow? That was all.

"Crow?" I asked.

"Yes, he's a friend of mine."

A friend. That was unacceptable. I thought I was your only friend. Maybe if I had calmed down then this never would have happened but no I had to have all of Yuusei's friendship.

"Alright I will take you for hamburgers from America, as long as you let me meet Crow."

He shouldn't have let me meet Crow.

"Thanks Kiryu!"

As he turned to leave I asked him the damning question.

"We'll be together forever right?"

"Right!"

There was hardly any happiness after that. The only happiness he must have felt was when I read the newspaper to him. The only news of the outside world he would know.

"A man was arrested for stealing an oil tanker today."

"What was his name?"

"Crow Hogan."

Yuusei had strain on his face.

"He was released."

The strain turned into a small smile.

"A woman with dark brown hair and greenish blue eyes came to the prison and had him released. She said she worked for the state. He now apparently works at a fulfilling job in a correctional facility. Ironic huh?"

"You seem like you are in good moods tonight Kiryu?"

"I just like being with you."

When we're alone. We need more loneliness.

"I miss that."

"Miss what?"

"You happy."

Yuusei strained his face once more to try and produce a cheerful smile. It just looked like I was holding a gun to his head and screaming smile or I'll kill you. Aw Yuusei. I miss the smiling you. I miss dancing underneath the moonlight to music we can only see. If only I could redo my life with you. If only I had a second chance. I'd do anything for you.

What else was happy? I don't know. There aren't a lot of happy moments. I think I want to cry. I think I'll cry. I miss crying. I miss laughter with pain. I miss smiling without misery. I miss love without irony. Kitty. Call me Kitty.

_My memories end and Crow is crying._

"_Damn it Kiryu why'd you have to go and ruin in?" He coughs out._

_The happiness in the room is equal to the sadness which is twice the hate. Divine looks the most hateful of us all. Betrayal is evident. Placido just looks pissed though. Redemption, do they even seek it? Perhaps not. It's none of my business._

"_Ain't ya gonna answer me at least!?" Crow sobs._

"_It's none of my business." I reply._

_My face remains without soul, emotion. Crow's is a picture constantly moving filled with hate, pain, love, sadness and contempt. I wonder how many of those are purely manipulative. Everyone manipulates everyone else. Ascension. I want to rot here._

"_You know what? Whatever. Time for the last one. The next test is a test of sacrifice. One member will have to sacrifice themselves for the others. The one that sacrifices themselves goes down below while another ascends. As it is also a race the one that gets there first wins a special prize. Half fucking fun."_

_Sacrifice? Finally a game I can win._


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

Antibenzochlorine

_So only one game left huh. Well. I wonder what this will be. Something else that creates an epiphany? Something else that reminds me of how much of an eyesore I am? Well whatever, whoever cares, it's none of my concern how I dance. If I do it in circles, if I do it in figure eights then at least I choose the dance. And these eyesores don't. Oh winning isn't even important anymore, anyone could do it except me, it's an eyesore's game. A test of humanity, the only thing that isn't in me. Oh so how fair is this game really? Not that fair. Not fair enough. Redemption is an eyesore anyway._

"_The final game is here, ready or not, I don't care. A test of sacrifice. What will you give to make things right? This game is more of race really, cause only so many people can actually get there. That's where even more sacrifice comes in as your teammates may have to sacrifice themselves for their redemption. After all, the game's for life not heaven. A second chance. On your marks. Ready. Set. Go." Carrot Top cries._

_Life then. Well that's something I do want. After all my life was stolen. Z-ONE needs my help after all and I haven't done everything I've hoped for. So even if I'm the only one to return there's no problems. Aren't I the only one that matters? Antinomy's fallen and Paradox doesn't even care. And I want my eye back. That brat has no right to see more then any ordinary being through me. Whatever. I'll win then. _

_There are several murmurs and a mild uproar._

"_You pull us around like fools giving us pain and then you tell us it's all pointless, there was only one game after all? Disgusting. You are disgusting." The blonde with the bright and strong green eyes cries._

"_Ku, disgusting yes. But can it be helped?" The clownish man in the back chuckles._

"_Hm, it's not his fault." Paradox mutters. _

"_I don't believe he even controls anything." The older man with the clockwork arm mentions._

_A deep roar of laughter comes from his brother. Soft chuckles from my own teammates. What's so fucking funny? Why's everyone laughing but me? Even the girl with a clumsy stance and tear stained cheeks laughs. A dark man puts his hand on my shoulder. Has he even spoken once during this? Unlike the other dark one he has a shaven head and eyebrows._

"_The laughter is the realization of why we sent through the irrelevance. We have received pain almost equal to the pain we gave. We felt regret. We felt emotions that we supposed to be dead." He explains._

_Emotions? Fools. I don't feel emotion and I don't feel pain. These eyesores think that they are receiving the equivalent to what they've done. Once a crime's been committed no matter what you do it can't be forgiven. I don't see why they won't just dance. It's the only thing to do really. But no, eyesores prefer to laugh. Even clockwork such as myself find this hilarious. That they didn't know. That they felt pain after all this time. It's not funny. Why does everyone laugh at me? Why does everyone laugh at agony? Slowly, slowly, everyone runs out. Do they even know where they are going? Probably not. Oh whatever._

_The now saddened white haired man stands beside me. His cheeks are also stained. Eyesores, tears are. Then why do I recall the wetness of my face in those moments, in these thoughts? This is stupid. At least Divine isn't crying. But then again it might be worse. He's ego is all over his face, the ego and the zeal and insanity. I wonder what he saw in his own mind? I didn't see a thing. I literally was just standing._

"_In order to make it up to him, I'll win. Even if I don't want to." Cries Kiryu._

_He takes off faster then I would have expected._

"_In order to destroy the girl in my Witch's place, I'll win. Even if I must give up everything I have ever worked for." Divine laughs._

_He also runs off leaving me here. Paradox is still inside the building. Who'd have thought he'd be so depressed? He always had the most anger, the most emotion. It was even reflected in his eyes. Where ours were dull without light his always glowed. Funny, his are glowing now. What's the eyesore up to?_

"_Hmn, I'm just waiting Placido. I won't leave without my friend. So even if everyone else leaves I will remain until the other half of my heart is here. But you wouldn't understand would you?" Paradox smirks._

_I shrug. Oh well, oh whatever. It's of no concern to me._

_I walk at a slowed pace. The others are just running blindly. Screaming out reasons. Laughing. The blonde woman with the bright green eyes seems to know where she's going. I follow slowly behind her. She stops and turns to me. Whatever._

"_What?" I ask with a shrug._

_It's irrelevant though, It's irrelevant and none of my concern what she wants._

"_Go away." She snarls._

"_Whatever." I reply with my mouth turning slightly upwards. _

_I follow her anyway._

"_Why are you following me?" She shrieks._

"_Because my life was robbed from me and I want to live it again." I shrug with my mouth finally fitting into it's smile._

"_What makes you think I know where I'm going?"_

"_You're too determined not to. If you didn't know you'd just be stumbling blindly like all the rest."_

"_Ugh, go."_

"_Oh no."_

"_Fine."_

_I speed up my pace to walk beside her. She growls again. I like this eyesore, after all she's dancing on her own. Maybe she would like to surrender all the pathetic emotions inside her. I hope so. After all we are two men short by now. Another would be good. Fuck. What was that? A flash of blue and red slams into me. Fucking Antinomy. Damn._

"_Hey Placido!" He smiles._

_Why's he so happy to see me?_

"_Are you trying for life or redemption?" He asks with a false kindness. _

_The anger in the woman's eyes magnifies._

"_Oh shut up." I snarl._

"_I thought we were friends after that talk." Antinomy frowns._

"_We are not friends! Go away!" I scream._

_The woman laughs._

"_Hello, I am Sherry LeBlanc, nice to meet you both. You have no chance of succeeding, leave." Sherry smiles._

"_I am Antinomy and he's Placido and no." Antinomy smiles back._

_How can they argue with smiling faces? How can they act so caring? It's not fair. Everyone should always look and act how they feel. It saves me the trouble of trying to figure it out on my own. I hate that. I guess my time beside hers done anyway. I run up ahead. Kiryu and Divine and several others are racing towards a large light in the distance. Freedom maybe?_

_I wonder if my life is worth anything at all. What do I even have to give? Will I be denied? Are these eyesores winners after all? I refuse to dance anymore. I will walk. Dancing tiresome and a game that humans play. I wonder, isn't most of the sins the desire to be loved and to love? Isn't that ironic? I thought humans believed that love made you strong. After all that's all humans ever told me. And say the one time I open myself up will I be struck down? Say is loneliness the only thing waiting for me? Z-ONE didn't even try to get me back did he? So what's the point anymore? What's the point? Why bother going back to life just to dance for things that annoy me? Why dance for eyesores? Aren't these humans so filled with hate? Isn't that why they try? Hate? Not even love anymore. I understand. I understand, after all hate is the most powerful thing. I hate humans and these beings seem to hate humans as well. So we all dance the same dance. We dance for the amusement of a God with a paper and a pen. Well I refuse. I will not dance. I will not dance ever again. From now on there will be me and only me. There is no meaning to the song we dance to._

_Except... I want to live. Aren't I ridiculous? No desire to dance but I want to live anyway? Might as well try. Whether I win or lose, it's of no concern to me. _

"_Get out of my way!" Divine shrieks as he shoves past the dark man with the blonde hair._

"_No you move brat!" The man growls as he shoves Divine back._

_Sherry halts as she comes to the man. There's no meaning to this song. No, there is. The meaning is pain. The end of the song however might make it something else. Look at me, analyzing life! It's fucking funny. And guess what? I know why they laughed. Out of pain, out of jealousy. And it's of no concern to me._

_Divine screams some more. The older man with the clockwork arm separates his brother and the zealous red head._

"_There's no meaning in fighting. After all I'm staying to try for redemption and I suggest you do the same, nii-sama." The older man mentions._

_His brother's eyes flash with more emotions then I can even tell. Oh this removes two more._

"_If you stay brother then I stay as well." The dark one laughs._

_The two walk off back to the building. Antinomy catches up. Almost there. I won't let him stop me. Fucking moron._

"_Anything!" The girl with tear stained cheeks and a clumsy stance screams._

_The first one there. Faster. Faster. I want to live!_

"_Your memories." A woman, the cab driver, speaks._

"_Take them!" The girl screams._

_As those words pass the door swallows her. I want to live! I want to live even if I must with dancing humans. _

"_Your memories also." The woman speaks._

_The dark and shaven man nods as he too is accepted. Feet away. I'm only feet away. People keep going. The clown, the woman with a model's features, LeBlanc. _

"_Two more." The woman speaks._

_I want to live! Beyond anything else I want to live! Divine's still limping towards the gate. Paradox isn't even here. The other people have either gone or aren't anywhere near. Wait... where's Kiryu? _

_The white haired man with the frown and the emotionless face and the tear stained cheeks stands in front of the door._

"_Even though I don't deserve life I have to tell Yuusei I'm sorry. Take anything you wish." Kiryu says._

_No. No. No. Only one spot left._

"_Your happiness is the price." The woman speaks._

"_My happiness? You already have that." He mentions._

"_So I do." The woman chuckles._

_Kiryu is also swallowed by the gate. So then. _

"_Placido, do you want to live?" Antinomy asks beside me._

"_Yes!" I scream._

_He frowns._

"_You may have my spot." He tells me._

"_Oh. Thank you." I sigh._

_What does he think the meaning of letting me live is? Does he think he's in love with me? Stupid. Oh well whatever, it's none of my concern._

"_So you'd really let me take your place in the game?" Carrot top asks Paradox._

_What? _

"_Yes, I did promise you earlier didn't I?" Paradox replies._

_Divine stumbles over to the gate and lies against it._

"_In order for you to return to life I will require your abilities." The woman speaks._

_Divine stares at her._

"_No." He laughs. "No. No. No."_

"_Your own fault then." She chuckles._

_Faster. Faster. Faster._

_I run forwards and just before my hand reaches it I'm pulled back. Paradox smiles at me._

"_You haven't learnt your lesson yet. You can go when you do." He laughs. "It'll be alright, alright?"_

"_Let me go!" _

"_All memories of this place will be erased Hogan." The woman speaks._

"_And that's alright." He smiles. "I'll make new ones."_

"_Well then this is goodbye."_

_There is no meaning. There is only sin. These eyesores were deemed worthy and not I. Then maybe I do have a lesson to learn. I think I'm upset. Antinomy sits down next to me._

"_It's alright." _

_How dare that man stop me. How dare any- It's of no concern to me. Antinomy wraps his arms around me._

"_Everything will be alright so don't worry. You won't have to dance anymore. We'll ascend together."_

"_Whatever."_


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

ACUTE

_Ah... it's dark here. Aki's waiting for me anyway. I have realized that I am unable to save her until she perishes. She has run from me into the arms of a seemingly white knight. Only when she's alone will she think of me. And until she fades from the false existence without me, until the darkness deepens she won't return to me. And that's alright. _

_Surrendering these abilities will do her no good. After all the flames are what warmed her and drew her to me. Like a moth to the moon. You know there are moths that fly up to the moon as it's bright and fly so high that the world looks bright instead. They travel back and forth until they... fade. My poor Aki's a moth, lured my lights. That's why I will wait here until she fades. The sun won't burn her up down here. Ah... it's getting brighter. Why's the dark being chased away?_

"_Your desire has been unleashed." A figure covered in shadows laughs._

"_And what do you want?" I ask it._

"_In return for your soul I will bring you back to life. If you should die again then you will go straight to Hell." It mentions. "Unless you can offer me a soul in return by the end."_

"_Ah... are you the reason why it's so bright in here?" I ask._

"_Yes." It replies._

"_Alright then. Let's pop like fireworks lit too early. I agree."_

Colour returns to my vision. I have missed it. Seems like only gray and darkness is the world. Ah and red. I never forgot the red. It still burns in my vision. I want to burn her up again and like the fresh wounds. I want to scorch. Ah, I'm sorry Aki. I'm sorry you had to feel me hurt that girl. But this time everything will be alright. I'll offer the demon his soul and then that saves the wait. I will burn him to ashes and then I will scorch you up once more. These flames that damned me will save us both.

I'm just outside her house. I wonder if she'll cry or smile when she sees me. I can't help but remember though, the dull pain of a blade as it struck my eye.

"Aki." I smile.

She looks shocked.

"Aki, I'm back." I walk over to her. "I'm back and I'm so sorry for what I did. I only wanted to punish the girl that took your place. But it's alright now."

Aki backs away.

"Aki calm down my love. I'm sorry and it will never happen again."

A small silver blade is in her hands. It shines with a dullness. Cattleya. A love pure and true. Cattleya were on the table. The knife, a steak knife. Aki. Aki how could you?

"Ah Aki, how could you do this to me? How could you hurt me? How could you? Why do you always want to hurt me? By words, by him, by knife. I gave you everything you could ever want and all you give me in return is pain! I however will save you from yourself!"

I'm the hero of this story. She needs to see that. I only want to protect her. I only want to protect her from herself.

"Divine, Divine, you pushed me to it! I wasn't allowed freedom! I wasn't allowed friends! You treated me like I was a painting!" Aki cries.

"But Aki, you are. You are a woman meant to be loved and adored and kept safe. But you are just so rebellious that you have to be kept under control. Understand?"

"Have you gone even more insane?"

"No, I have just declared war on all that oppose me. I thought I could trust you Aki. I see I was wrong. This time I will keep you so safe that you will never hurt me again."

I grab a larger knife off the table and walk over to her with a small smile. After all, the only way moths stop chasing flames is the threat of death. I will burn her up. What? I'm bleeding. I raise a hand to my forehead. The girl with the brown hair and blue eyes, the beautiful one, stabbed me. With Aki's knife.

"I won't kill you." She growls. "I won't kill you because no one deserves Hell."

I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding and I'm the only one burnt. I curl up and sob. Sobbing's the only thing left. The painting woman has denied me again. She'll wither instead of burn. The poor girl. Is my ear stil missing? Missing so she could hear my lies. My eye's missing. Missing so she could she my true intentions. The girl in the painting is afraid of me. I'm sorry. I thought I could save you. But, but I was wrong. There's no saving the painting woman. Her oil's already been burnt. Her wings already torn. Her flower has already withered. And so, so she killed me. Killed me so she wouldn't have to face those facts. Of all the sad people in the world she's the saddest. But I'm still in love with the girl in the painting. Ah... it's getting dark.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

Guard of Loneliness

_Humanity. It confuses me. Is it really true that they feel things that are good? I thought all feelings were to be shunned but there is an ache inside of me telling me that there's something wrong. My heart burns. My head hurts. Haven't I lived this before? Emotions? Was I human once? If I was then say did I feel good? Antinomy looks like he feels things. Paradox acts like he feels things. Am I the only one devide of emotion? I don't think that's fair. After all emotion is the thing that makes humans dance properly. I swing with no meaning, no reason and I feel nothing. It's not fair. It's not fair and it hurts. I really hate my selfish personality. It's an eyesore. I'm an eyesore after all this. Humans are more flexible. Are more living. They have will. If I could remain clockwork and have will then that'd be the only life for me. I'm sorry after all. I should have listened then Antinomy. I should have listened to myself but no. I had to live. I wanted to live. Even though life for me has no meaning, no reason. It's just lonely. It's lonely because in desperation to stop emotions I blocked myself from the world. And for a very long time all I've been able to feel has been hate and pain and anger and now I just want to cry freely. I'm sorry._

_Water pools on the ground. Water. Water's coming from my eyes. I've always wanted to cry. It was something I thought I couldn't do so I wanted to naturally. I want to dance in harmony as well. Oh I'm just an eyesore. Crying is painful, so painful it aches my chest. Are his arms still around me? How long has it been? Won't he get tired?_

"_Placido, are you alright now?" He asks._

_It's of no concern to you how I feel. Why does he want to help me anyway? Delusions of love are weird. I hope they stop, for my sake. After all they might be contagious like the wet in my eyes. Humans are full of contagious diseases. And that's annoying. They spread things that make you ache._

"_I guess." I sigh._

_He lifts me up._

"_Put me down." I whine with false aggression._

"_No, we're going somewhere. Goodbye Paradox, see you soon." Antinomy laughs._

_The tall blonde waves goodbye with one hand._

"_Where are we going?" I ask._

"_We're ascending." He informs me._

_That's not fair. It's been made clear that I don't deserve it and besides I don't want it._

"_You've learnt your lesson after all." He mentions._

_What lesson is that? I stay silent despite wanting to know as it's none of my concern. _

"_You've learnt emotions after all. You're actually sorry."_

_Emotions. You mean this ache that makes me want to puke? Then I guess. Whatever though. I don't want emotions. I was better without them. So I'll gladly surrender them so I don't have to ascend. Ascension means that I'm human and I can't bear that. I don't know how to deal with that. Hope hurts._

"_Come on." Antinomy laughs. "It'll be alright after all."_

**More colour then I have ever seen. Alright. Hope feel alright. Crying feels fine. I wonder what we'll see. I'm sorry.**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

Boss Death

Bright. I remember how bright this is. I've seen it so many times. I'm alive. Yuusei. I have to see Yuusei again. I have to tell him, I have to make it right. I remember the season we spent together, his smile has all but faded now. No matter what happens, no matter if I die again. I have to make it up to him. Anyways I don't deserve life.

I walk at a fast pace. My hair clings to my face. It's grown. I wonder how. They were nice enough to give me a costume change. A harmonica hangs from my throat and my coat blows in the wind. I hum to myself. Aw Yuusei. Where does he live now? Maybe someone knows. Crow. Crow's here to isn't he? That spiked man promised after all. I wonder if Crow knows. Probably not. Maybe Jack knows. Jack. Yes, yes I remember Jack. I find the tall man by a river's edge throwing boulders in.

"Jack." I say.

He turns to look at me.

"Kiryu, you look different. Then again you ought to be dead." He laughs. "Several people that ought to be dead have returned. They've been on the news. I should have known that with your bitter determination you'd be back for Yuusei. Well too bad cause I won't tell you where he is."

"I'm sorry but I've changed and I have to make it up to him. Either you tell me or I'll find him myself. Or I'll let him find me like you know he will."

"Well I'll just take my chances."

"It doesn't matter what happens to me, I will not stop until I can make it up to him. I don't deserve nor want his love anymore. All I want is to see him happy one last time."

"Take my word for it. He is happy. He's happy with Aki."

My eye twitches a bit. But I have no right to be upset.

"You know you weren't insane a while ago. You were a sweet man. What happened to you?"

"In order to prolong my life I gave my mind completely to an otherworldly entity."

"Oh God, I, I didn't know."

"It's my fault. I was the one that let it. I was the one with the thoughts that it feed off."

"Kiryu, his address is in my phone, here."

Jack throws the phone at me. I catch it easily. I've always been good at catching things.

"Thank you."

"You better bring that phone the fuck back, it's expensive."

"Alright."

I find the address with ease. After all he's living in a work shop. I open the door with an almost hitched breath.

"Yuusei."


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of it's characters.

**Author Note: **Hey Sango did what you asked, here take my epilogue and then take my Meltdown when I get to that. And by get to I mean continue today or tomorrow. Got distracted by the shiny.

Afterwards

Ellie

It burns. It burns. I've never burnt more than I do now. Aki. Aki. How could you? Why would you? I trusted you beyond anyone else. I bet you always wanted to kill me. To drive that knife deep inside me. So you could mock me. So you could run into the open arms of your white knight. And I wouldn't die easily so you wanted to drive me to madness, didn't you painting girl? I bet you thought you were clever stabbing me in an area that would cause brain damage. You were slightly smart. You were only slightly smart. After all if you gain my trust then I am the easiest man to fool.

Insanely enough I loved you. I wonder if you're still bleeding. Happy memories. I was denied. I was denied happiness all my life. From people of a higher social status to even you. Aki. It's not funny so why is everyone laughing. Insanely enough I loved you. The woman that I love, the painting girl, there is barely any remains left. You gave yourself, soul and body, away for what sake? And now once again I'm bleeding. I think I'm going to bleed to death. It'll get dark again. That is something I refuse to bear. I sought ascension so in the end I will achieve it. In the end I will achieve it. Through you my one and only love, my one and only pure one. Because you love me even if you killed me, after all you said so. Or maybe I just can't admit to my own sins, my own failure in trusting you at all, in doing things just in spite of you. Of loving you. After all it was pure insanity. Wasn't it painting girl? It was, it was painting girl. Ha. Ah strangely enough I love you.

I refuse to return to that dark and depressing place. After all, after all, it's you that got me sent there. For the sake of you, for the sake of the downtrodden I have committed sin and I'm the only one that pays for it? Isn't that funny Aki? I wonder if you ever loved me at all. If you feel any guilt at all. I will and I do. I'm sorry but you promised eternal dedication, to protect me always, so protect me from hell. After all you did promise. Why would you go back on that? You wouldn't. You aren't that type of painting, and even if you are I'm not the type of creator to simply let you forget. What ever happened to vowing to me and my movement? Maybe it was all a lie. A spy. Someone desperate to live a happy and decent life even if she had to sell herself. Ah insanely enough I love you. I love you even if you are some common trash to throw herself to the highest bidder. In another life maybe there was love. In another life maybe there is love. All there is now is the still incessantly flowing blood and your hands trying to shake me awake. It's no problem though. It's no problem though, after all the bold extent of death is no real threat.

I'll feel so sorry for this. After all it's hard to harm someone you love. And as you know I love you to the brink of insanity.

"He's getting up." The model woman stutters.

"Well you said it wasn't a killing blow and he's completely insane so yes he would get back up wouldn't he?" Aki cries.

A soul to give in return for her soul to take. I wonder if she'll be cast down in my stead. Well she'll be cast down regardless. I will scorch her up.

"I'm sorry after all, I insanely enough still love you." I apologize.

My flame scorches her up quite easily. Childish weapons have no more use for me. She's burning. My poor painting. Taking too long. I'll just end her pain now.

The model woman looks surprised. She's not very fast putting the painting out. Childish weapons still have purpose. I grab the silver sparkling knife up again and carve open her skin. A soul to give, a soul to take. A soul to give, a soul to take. Simple isn't it? And I'm not very sorry after all. The world is very colourful. There are plenty of other paintings in this world. I run out. After all I just returned from death, I'm not eager to hop back into her arms. Insanely enough I loved her, strangely enough I adored her, confusingly enough I trusted her but never again. From now on I will keep my heart sealed shut so no one can send me back before my time. Trust is for fools after all. Love is insanity and I have no intention of losing my mind again. After all the clarity of death and blood helped me see clearly. Though I think a small part of me is still screaming. Let me check, yes he's still screaming. Oh it's getting dark again. Hello Aki.

**Additional Note: **Three guesses what happened here. And Divine was wrong, he's still completely batshit. At least he and Aki are together, for better or worse. Well even if it's worse they have eternity to get to know each other again. Pain and a love pure and true. So I guess he got what he wanted after all.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own this franchise nor claim to own it or any of its characters.

Afterwards

Marie-Luise

"Yuusei." I whimper.

"K-Kiryu." He trembles.

"I'm so sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry!" I scream. "I loved you so much that the thought of being without you burned and so I gave my mind away without a regret to some thing and in return he gave me what I wanted, you. It's so depressing. So depressing to walk aimlessly. Please don't hate me."

My eyes are getting wet as tears wet my checks. Is this life? Is this despair? I'm so sorry. So sorry. Oh God. The blood is still in front of my eyes. Blood flowing for all time. Forgive me. I'd even die if that would make you forgive me. I'd even kill myself. I just want your forgiveness. Even though that I do not deserve. Fresh red blood still flows. The only thing left to do is break down. The only thing left to do is rot. It's so depressing, so depressing. Walking aimlessly. Forgive me.

"Kiryu, please calm down." Yuusei pleads.

He takes my hand and leads me to the sofa. It's still messed up. It's still covered in drool and sweat and messed blankets. He sits me down and sits down himself. The fresh blood still flows freely. I'm so sorry. So sorry. Forgive me. I wanted to love you. I wanted to kiss you, to hold you, to own you and to be the only one to do so.

"Would you like some tea or something to calm your nerves?" He asks.

Still caring for me. Why? There is no point after all. The blood still flows freely though. The question is now is it mine or his? If my blood flows is that forgiveness? If his flows then that's punishment.

"No." I mutter.

"Kiryu please calm down. It'll be alright. Everything will be alright this time. I forgive you." Yuusei tries to smile.

Forgiveness. In spite of sin. I never thought about it. Redemption always seemed so far away.

"Even if I don't deserve it."

"Well I suppose if you didn't deserve it then you would have been back to your old ways already. And it's only partially your fault after all."

Always so concerned for me. Sadly that is the problem. This world. I wanted to hold you. I wanted to kiss you. I wanted to own you. Despite everyone else that had a piece of your heart. The number of people you adored was always increasing. Depressingly. So depressing, so depressing.

"Now Kiryu you are supposed to be dead so you won't be able to leave this house for a little while until the hype of your death dies down."

"Yuusei, how did I die?"

"You were chasing me with a knife screaming you've gotten stained and you tripped and you impaled yourself."

So apathetic. His face doesn't even flinch as he tells me. No regrets about my death then. Only contentness. But he seems so content about my life as well. Yuusei, you're so confusing.

"That's how I did. I guess I'm really sad."

"Kiryu please, you are the strongest person I know but you fell. I will help you rise again. And then I will smile."

So brave, so bold, so Yuusei.

"Are you sure after all-"

"Stop, I'm sure."

I wanted to kiss you. I wanted to hold you. I wanted to own you. I wanted you and only you and people kept getting in the way, or so it seemed. The only answer was to remove the pain from the source. And that was so depressing. So depressing. I'll never do it again. I'm sorry. I wanted to control you. I wanted your love. I wanted your adoration. Beyond that I don't think I had a purpose. A clinging ivy strangling an oak tree shockingly. Shockingly. I want to kiss you. I want to hold you. I want to me your one and only in spite of myself. My greatest fear is for me myself to snatch you again. In order to prevent that I must leave you. I'm so sorry. So sorry.

"Kiryu, you can't go. I finally got you back. After all these years. So if you leave again then I hve just wanted my time with you and then I won't forgive you."

My fresh blood still flows freely. His fresh blood still flows freely. The blood flows over itself over and over again until it's a mixed crimson. The crimson is etched deeply in us but that's alright. That's alright because it's only our souls mixing. My weaker one being consumed at last. And I can't help but fear that I'll swallow him again and hope that this is my forgiveness at last.

"Then I guess I can't leave."

"No I guess you can't."

So bold, so brave, so Yuusei. My fallen star has risen to the top again. I can see him shine so bright as he bleeds and one day these wounds will close and I will marvel at a supernova. Surpassing even black holes such as myself.

"Kiryu, we'll start again. This time no regrets alright?"

"This time no regrets."

I place my head against his lap as tears fall freely. He sighs and starts brushing my hair. One day away from everything else I hope that you and I can be together forever alone. I want to kiss you. I want to hold you. I want you to own me. After all I love you so much I'd even kill myself, my shooting star. Now shine as bright as you can and chase away the black still lingering.

It's so depressing. So depressing. That I was this foolish. But at least there are no regrets. This time I will grant all your wishes and make sure all your dreams come true, I owe you this much. Forgive me. I love you. He tilts me head upwards and kisses me. Thank you. I missed you. Please don't let me leave. Please don't leave. The blood is flowing freely. My blood and yours is finally mixed.

**Author Note: **Well this is happy-ish. Great. It took a lot to write this but thanks. So get ready for Placido's epilogue.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.

Afterwards

ReACT

Oh, fired again. I fucking hate this. 'You don't work well with people' my ass. People are just too stupid to be dealt with. Not my fault and its none of my concern. I just want the money, I don't care how much energy or time must be spent just don't have me continually repeating this. I'm sick of people anyway. Maybe I'll just run up to the mountains and make a life of my own. Maybe I will. After all I don't need anyone, not in this life or any of the ones before, if there were lives before. If there were, were they better or worse? Tragic or sheer comedy? Cold or hot? Was I better person? Whatever anyway. After all I have things that are bigger concerns.

You know having past lives means that we are all destined to live forever repeating ourselves. How dreadful. I mean would we have free will in these lives? Or as the song goes would they we decided by one in six? Is it all randomness? No, can't be after all if there is someone cycling lives then they'd have to have some sort of plan. I wonder what the plan for me is? I hope it's one where I run into a load of money or someone that will help me. I never want to work another day in this life. People annoy me, I just want their money.

Fuck what was that? Oh. A broad blue haired man with red glasses is staring back at me. He's wearing a long and thick black velvet coat, short black boots with long laces and a plaid scarf. Much warmer then my own clothing.

"Watch the fuck where you're going Antinomy." I scream.

Antinomy? That's weird, I don't recall him telling me his name.

"Can't exactly do that, after all I'm blind." He replies. "I lost my help. He stayed behind in a café waiting for a friend of his."

"Oh boo hoo. Get lost." I sneer.

He sighs and walks off. Snow starts falling suddenly. Wonder why I keep seeing snow. The pavement's getting wet as well. Better get home before it gets any colder and it freezes. A car crash is just what I need right now.

"And how did you know my name?" Antinomy asks.

"Just did." I shrug.

"Help me get back home."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'll pay you."

"How much?"

"Fifty."

Fifty. Fifty! Well I get to keep my electricity on.

"Also I'll need you to help me find my help. He could be waiting all day. He's always waiting for this friend of his. The damn fellow's always late. Ever since he was born, late."

"Alright. Whatever."

"Great. Hold my hand, the streets are slippy."

I sigh and hold the bluenette's hand.

"Thank you Placido."

"Well how'd you know my name?"

"The same way you knew mine."

"Whatever."

"Yes whatever."

The snow's still falling. It isn't even winter yet. I understand the chill but not the sudden onset of snow. Then again the weather is a fickle bitch. Oh well whatever. I just hope I won't be walking for too long, the people are being eyesores again. God they ought to dance in harmony for once.

"Placido are you alright? You're hand is shaking like you're cold." Antinomy voice rings out.

"Yeah I'm fine." I reply.

"Do you want my scarf?" He questions.

"No."

"You're stubborn. Take my scarf. It's a present."

I reluctantly take the plaid scarf off his neck and wrap it around my own. If only to get him to shut up.

"Placido what are you wearing?" He hums.

"What are you some kind of pervert?" I kid.

He frowns. I walk past a large café, a playground and several houses.

"Yes but that's not why." Antinomy replies.

"I'm wearing a coat, a pair of pants and a shirt. Are we done?"

"Well there are weird sounds beside me. Like a woman's heels."

"Oh those, those are my boots."

"Are you a crossdresser?"

"No fuck you! I don't have to help."

"Did I strike a nerve? I'm sorry."

"Whatever. Let's just get you to your help or home or whatever the fuck you want."

"The café is LeGreen."

"I just passed it you dick!"

"Well I didn't know."

I turn around and throw open the doors.

"So what's your help look like?" I pursue.

"I wouldn't know." He snips.

"Well what's his name?"

"Paul, his nickname is Paradox though because apparently his eyebrows defy logic."

"You could have fucking mentioned that when I asked what he looked like."

"Looking for me?" A voice asks from at the front of the café.

Two men are sitting at a table. One with pink and gray hair and deep bags under his eyes like he hasn't slept and red rims like he's been crying.

"Should I go Paradox?" The man asks with a mild choke.

"What? You just got here. After all I've been waiting for you to show for a long time." Paradox scoffs.

"But..." The man starts.

"No, you are staying with me. I'm not waiting for you again. Come on Ant, I'll walk ya home." Paradox grins.

"I left without you, you know. I was going home but I couldn't find it and I don't know the directions yet. I asked Placido to help." Antinomy explains.

"Hey." I attempt to smile.

"Hmn, thank you for helping him Placido. What do I owe you?" Paradox asks.

"Nothing. Money's none of my concern. See you." I shrug.

I make for the door.

"Wait!" Antinomy cries.

I turn with a small hmn.

"You could at least stay for dinner with the four of us." He finishes.

"Four?" I ask.

"Yeah, there's me, Paradox, Aporia now and Z-ONE."

"You people have strange nicknames. I guess I could stay though. But only for a bit. My brother and grandfather will be pissed if I stay out too late."

"It's a date then!"

"I suppose."

The snow's falling heavier. I guess I'll go to dinner. After all I did lose out fifty bucks. Maybe I gained something. I don' know. Whatever one in six or whatever decides.

**Author Note: **Well this is not only heavy foreshadowing for the future but it's a somewhat happy ending with a lot of meta and a lot of mindfuck. Brownie points if you can guess why it's snowing. Anyways goodbye and goodnight. This is the end of Afterwards, or rather the begging. Guess what? I wrote this part before Kiryu's but posted it with Kiryu's first so it be in chronological order. Thank you for all the reviews, see ya next time. Also last chance to guess the theme naming.


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